Customer Satisfaction

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, owner of many popular brands of vehicles, including mine, has taken to titling their recall notices "Customer Satisfaction Notifications." 

For example, "You may find that it hinders your ability to drive the vehicle if electronic steering and braking systems fail.  To help you with this, your dealer can cut a hole in the floor of your vehicle and provide you with a very thick-soled pair of shoes that can assist you. Drag one foot to steer, two to brake. Simple -- primitive even -- and yours for the bargain price of $349.99!  We just want to make sure you're satisfied."

Orange is the New Black

I have recently been binge-watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix while doing semi-brainless stuff.  Since it's background noise, I'm only partially paying attention to it, but I am finding it quite enjoyable.

If I cared to pay more attention, I'm sure I could get into the deeper, more thought-provoking story lines, but for now it's just a fun distraction, and it serves its purpose.

What I Watched -- The Revenant

I grabbed a copy of The Revenant last week at the library.

I didn't remember much of the buzz about it from the time of its release, except that there was a lot of winter, Game of Thrones-style. That much was true. 

There was also a lot of communication by grunting, and a lot of unfortunate incidents involving animals. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I share that the main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is mauled by a bear near the beginning. That's what sets up the whole quest for revenge that he goes on later. While he's on his quest, there's a Star Wars-esque evening spent sleeping in site the now-empty gut cavity of a recently killed horse, and catching and eating raw fish like Gollum.  It ends with a very The Grey moment, sort of a breaking-the-fourth-wall reckoning with the main character.

Enough of the references to other movies, although it does seem to be a bit of a compilation.  This movie, standing on its own, was dark, depressing, and full of a bunch of guys who are a lot tougher than I would have been facing the same circumstances.

Bottom line: for a hot summer day, it's not a bad pick, but don't expect to be uplifted.

What I Watched -- The Big Short

I picked up The Big Short at the library last week.  I also grabbed The Fighter, but S had already seen it, so we only watched this one.

Much to my dismay, we were about 45 seconds into it when he said, "I feel like I've seen this before..."  I thought I had struck out big time, picking out two movies he had already seen.  Then he went on to say, "...because it feels just like..."  He couldn't remember the name of the other movie he was thinking of, but I knew right away where he was going with it.  "The Wolf of Wall Street!"

And sure enough, it does have that feel to it.  There is a character who acts as a bit of a narrator, and talks directly to the camera.  There are other characters who directly address the viewer as well.  Especially in the beginning, there's a party-like atmosphere as the market goes crazy.

Then it takes a bit of a turn, and it differs from Wolf of Wall Street in that there are fewer drugs and less alcohol, and more analysis of the impending doom hiding in the rocketing financial sector.  The big names in the film all did a nice job.  Christian Bale is a disturbingly good disturbed guy.

Bottom line: pretty good, and definitely left me feeling (slightly) less disgusted than The Wolf did.

St. Louis Architecture

The Shell Oil Building

What I Watched -- Ghostbusters

It was time again to see a movie with my friend B; S came along this time too.  We always see a crashy-crashy-smashy-smashy movie, and based on the options available, we picked the new Ghostbusters movie.

It was amusing.  I like Kristen Wiig, and she was funny, even though she played the straight man.  I like Melissa McCarthy, and she was funny.  I know of Leslie Jones, but don't know her work, and I didn't know the other girl at all.  It turns out that the other girl is named Kate McKinnon, and she stole the show.  Her current regular gig is on SNL, so it's not surprising that she can hold her own with the comedians.

There were a million guest appearances by cast members of the original film.  It was a bit overdone, but still nice to know that they were involved, even the tiniest bit, in the making of the new movie.

Bottom line: entertaining for a couple of hours, but not particularly memorable.

St. Louis Architecture

A beautiful afternoon looking towards the City Museum.

The Myths of Rape

I don't often post serious news on my blog.  However, a Canadian judge recently issued a scathing opinion debunking the myths of rape and speaking out against the culture of victim-blaming.

The whole opinion can be found here.  It's long, but the last 10 pages are the focus; if you're so inclined, start at paragraph 483.

Nothing about this is ever a breath of fresh air, but it's nice to know that not all judges are like this one.

The Honorable Woman

I've started watching The Honorable Woman on Netflix recently.  It was a bit slow to get going, but now I'm hooked.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Nessa Stein, a member of the British House of Lords, a daughter of Istrael, and a lady with secrets who (so far) is trying to do the right thing in her personal life, and professionally trying to promote reconciliation between Israel and Palestine.  She and her brother Ephra inherited their father's company, which may not be quite what they -- or at least she -- thought it was.

Wilderness Lodge

S and I were recently invited by Uncle P to head down to Wilderness Lodge for a long weekend.  It was a bit rainy, but that didn't stop us from getting in a half-day float, nor from shuttling P and A on a half-day float of their own.

What the rain did do, which was nice, was allow plenty of time for naps, book reading, and game playing.  Ping pong and pool were the big winners where the games are concerned.  If I had thought about it ahead of time, I would have taken along one or two of my jigsaw puzzles.  There were a few at the lodge, but you never know whether or not they have all their pieces (in fact, it is unlikely that they do), and it's so frustrating to get the whole thing done only to find out that your masterpiece has a hole or two!

 Our final dinner

Special thanks to A for bringing down some coffee cakes, which made for an excellent afternoon snack!